EMINEM HAILS SLAIN "BEST FRIEND"

In a posting on his website, Eminem says Deshaun "Proof" Holton, the fellow rapper killed by gunfire early Tuesday, "pushed me to become who I am. Without Proof's guidance and encouragement, there would... probably not [have been] an Eminem and certainly never a Slim Shady. He was and always will be my best friend." A police investigation says that Proof fired first inside the Detroit nightclub CCC, staring the shootout that took his life.